Andy Knight

Andy has speed in his blood. Both his father and grandfather were powerboat champions. Andy prefers the track to the water, but racing is most definitely in his blood!

Andy Knight is one of New Zealand's best young racing drivers. In his short career the twenty-two year old has already won many of New Zealand's most prestigious motor racing titles.

Since his motor racing debut in 2003 Andy has achieved success in a wide range of machinery in many different parts of the world.Andy has impressed many with his outright speed in his debut season in the BNT V8s Championship. In his first outing in the ultra-competitive series he qualified in the top ten amongst the established names of the series and has continued to demonstrate that type of pace throughout the season.Prior to stepping into the V8 SeriesAndy had fashioned an outstanding record in New Zealand's premier single seater category - the Toyota Racing Series. After finishing in the top four of the championship in each of the first three years of the series he proved himself the best in the class during the 2007/2008 season. He began the season by winning the prestigious New Zealand Motor Cup at Pukekohe Park early in the season before winning the country's most important domestic motor race, the 2008 New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild Park in Feilding. He then went on to clinch the 2007/2008 Toyota Racing Series Championship. At the completion of the 2007/2008 motor race season many of the country's most highly sought after motor racing trophies were locked away in the Knight Motorsport trophy cabinet.Those successes placed Andy at the pinnacle of New Zealand motorsport after a rapid rise through the ranks. In his first year out of karts Andy won New Zealand's Formula Ford Festival and finished second in the New Zealand Grand Prix.Those successes gave him the opportunity to compete in the Formula Ford support races at the Australian Grand Prix plus a one-off drive in Formula Russell USA where he qualified on pole and finished second in his first race on American soil.The following year he finished second overall in the Toyota Racing Series AND the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship while also winning the International series held in conjunction with the Formula Ford Championship. Andy's feat of contesting two championship's in two very diverse cars at the same events, and doing so competitively, is one that few other drivers have ever achieved.It is believed that Andy's effort in winning a National Championship Formula Ford race at Timaru International Motor Raceway by twenty-two seconds is a New Zealand record.In addition to his outstanding record in New Zealand motorsport Andy has also shone in a number of other international appearances. In 2006 Andy travelled to the United States to compete in the first four rounds of the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship. He was immediately successful, taking a second place at Portland International Raceway and battling for the lead in the Greg Moore Rookie Of The Year Series before returning to New Zealand.Later in 2006 he made two appearances in the Australian Formula 3 Championship. By just his second weekend in the car he was on the podium. In 2008 Andy travelled to Australia twice. In the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour race at the infamous Mount Panorama circuit he finished eighth overall in a Wilson Brothers Racing Subaru WRX STi and in his other Australian outing that season he made an eyecatching V8 Supercar debut in the V8 Supercar Development Series.Andy has also been impressive when offered testing opportunities in a variety of cars around the world. He tested an IPS (Indy Pro Series) car with Sam Schmidt Motorsports at Homestead Miami Speedway late in 2006. The IPS is a developmental league for America's top single seater racing formula - the Indy Racing League. On his first outing in the car he was within half a second of the times of 2007 Champion, Alex Lloyd. Andy was also selected by the Toyota Racing Series as one of two drivers to travel to the Varano circuit in Parma, Italy to test the Tatuus Toyota car used in the Toyota Racing Series.There have been many other successes in Andy's short career. He drove a 996 Porsche GT3 in a National Championship round at his home circuit in 2007 and was immediately successful, taking a win and a second place in his class before gearbox failure sidelined him in the third and final race. Since then he has also won two of the three rounds of the 2008 South Island Endurance Series in a 997 Porsche GT3. The winning margin in the first victory was three laps and in the second four laps.